It took all of his willpower not to wince when she spoke again. He took a step forward as she took a step back. There was already too much metaphorical distance between them, he couldn't handle it anymore. "I want for us to be comfortable in our own home. I don't give a rat's ass about everyone else." His normally calm exterior was starting to crack. She was right of course, he hated the rumors that scuttled through the streets at their expense, but nobody was brave enough to say anything to his face. She was clearly enduring the worst of it and it wasn't like he could arrest anyone for it.

"If that's as friends, or simply two people who live together and coparent, so be it, but we have to find some common ground." He reached out to gently to lay a hand on her arm. Rhys wasn't so sure he'd so much as done anything this intimate since the incident that started this whole thing, but he meant it. He wanted them to be friends, to move fluidly around the house as though they both were at home. "This is our house, Zinnia, I don't want it to be a cage."

---

  

---

This time around Zinnia didn’t move from her spot as Rhys stepped forward, although she did keep her eyes trained on him. He was too much of a gentleman to try anything, and despite everything that had transpired, Rhys had never given her a reason to be afraid of him. If anything, she was annoyed at him for trying to bridge the gap between them – physically and metaphorically. Maybe if she wasn’t so hopped up in anger she might have been surprised that he’d cursed and his words might have melted a bit of it, because Zin wanted the same thing.

Blue eyes found their way toward Rhys as he laid his hand on her arm, and for a moment she held her breath to stare at him. “I’m not sure how we do that.” Zinnia confessed quietly. What common ground could they possibly find, outside of their baby? If she had known marriage was going to be this hard, she might have just run off with Daff to have this baby. She turned to face Rhys, sighing like the entire weight of the world was sitting on her shoulders. “Well it’s a little late for that.” But Zinnia had put herself here, choosing not to venture out unless she had to. “But it’s easier to be here than out there.”

She stepped back away from him, frowning. Took a deep breath, trying to calm herself. “I just... I don't know how to fix this, Rhys. I don't even know where to start.”

---

  

---

Set by the lovely Lady<3

Rhys wasn't exactly sure how they were supposed to make all of this work either. He hated that she felt trapped, that had never been his intention. His reputation couldn't protect her and that grated him. She'd stepped away from him again and this time he didn't follow. If she needed that much space from him, he wasn't going to force the issue.

"I will do whatever it is that you want me to do." He cared about her, obviously. It went beyond just feeling a responsibility for her. Zinnia deserved so much more than this; they were practically strangers still and he was trying his best to make her comfortable. The worst part was that he seemed to be failing at it. "Tonight, tomorrow, whatever you need."They could do this and he wanted to make sure the baby was raised in a household that knew they were wanted and loved and right now, it wasn't that.

---

  

---

Zin instantly regretted the words the moment they came out of her mouth. Her eyes widened like she couldn’t believe what she was saying, but somehow she couldn’t force herself to utter an apology. Rhys didn’t step toward her, and she wasn’t sure if that was a bad sign of where they were headed or not. No matter what happened, they were going to be tethered together for life because of this baby.

With a soft sigh, Zin stepped forward, her hand reaching out to rest on his arm. “I don’t know what I want, and I think that’s the issue.” If she could tell him things would be a hell of a lot easier between them. “I just… I had this grand picture of how it would all go. It would be love at first sight, of course, but we’d still court. We’d picnic and go for promenades, and boat rides in the spring. He'd bring me flowers because of how much I love them.” A soft blush spread across her face. She’d only admitted that to her sisters before, and now it seemed so… farfetched.

“It’s hard to let go of, especially because I’ll never have that now.” They didn’t even sleep in the same room, and the reality of them going for promenades around the park was almost laughable. Zinnia couldn’t even bring herself to suggest it.

---

  

---

Set by the lovely Lady<3

The lingering, ever-present guilt washed over him in a new wave. He had accidentally robbed her of almost everything she wanted out of life and he didn't know exactly what to do about it. He rolled it over in his head, trying to figure out what to do next. She hadn't exactly told him what she needed from him, but he could possibly work from what it was that she had wanted, before this had all happened.

"So let me court you then," It was as good of an idea as any. Rhys would have preferred his own life to that way too. Get to know someone through a more traditional method. They had unintentionally gone about it backwards and even with the baby on the way, Rhys thought they still had enough time to try, at the very least. He could do flowers and picnics, though maybe in their own garden. He could figure out a promenade situation. It couldn't be that hard and he would put in the effort, if that was what she wanted. "We may not have gone in the right order, but that doesn't mean we have to skip it entirely." He entreated, taking another tentative step toward her.

---

  

---

Zinnia wasn’t sure what to say, and she was lucky that her jaw hadn’t fallen open at his request. She hadn’t told him what she needed, simply because she didn’t know what that looked like – all she knew was that this was meeting the fairytale story she’d dreamt about since she was a child. Rhys stepped forward and Zinnia stepped forward to meet him, letting her hand reach out to rest on his arm. This whole situation wasn’t ideal, but they were trying, really trying, and that had to count for something.

There were a thousand things she could say, but she wasn’t going to kick while he was down. Instead Zinnia smiled softly at him.“I’d like that.” Because she would, a lot. Maybe there was hope for them yet. “Let’s go to the kitchen? There’s a cake in there for you, and we can cut it while we figure out what this whole courting thing might look like.” She cleared her throat. “Happy birthday, Rhys.” Well, she should have started with that first thing this morning, but it was better late than never.

---

The following 1 user Likes Zinnia Gallagher's post:1 user Likes Zinnia Gallagher's post
   Rhys Gallagher

---

Set by the lovely Lady<3